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CONSUMER DEMAND AND MUNICIPAL WASTE COMPOST PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE IN UGANDA

Composting of municipal waste produces a marketable compost product that has various benefits. The market dynamics for Municipal Waste Compost however, manifests itself through consumer demands and opinions. The study set out to characterize consumers based on their perceptions and attitudes towards MWC product, determine factors that influence consumer demand for municipal waste compost and also assess the product lifecycle of municipal waste compost. Systematic random sampling, with a random start, was used in selecting 150 households from the comprehensive list of consumers of Municipal Waste Compost that was obtained from the respective composting facilities. Principal factor analysis (PFA) was used to look for constructs that ‗factor‘ well together and have notable loading magnitudes in absolute terms. A multiple linear regression model was estimated and Markov chains forecasting. Consumers of municipal waste compost look at the quality and image of the product. Furthermore, the price of municipal waste compost, and use of animal manure significantly influence the demand for municipal waste compost. However, animal manure has a slightly higher market share among the sampled households than Municipal Waste Compost, which in turn has slightly higher share than inorganic fertilizers. It was explicitly clear that the market share of Municipal Waste Compost will reduce over time by 10% due to consumers switching to animal manure mainly.

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Author: niragire nicholas
Contributed by: asbat digital library
Institution: makerere university
Level: university
Sublevel: post-graduate
Type: dissertations